Delaware Valley (Pa.) coach Lou DeLauro had a feeling that his four wrestlers’ first-round draws in the state Class AAA championships were going to be tough.
DeLauro’s hunch was correct. Delaware Valley went 0-4 in the round of 16 Thursday in Hershey, Pa. Senior 160-pounder Lucas Markowitz, senior 182-pounder Martin Strenk and sophomore 195-pounder Matt Wagner were pinned and junior 132-pounder Jalen Palmer lost 4-1.
Palmer, Strenk and Wagner rallied in the first round of wrestlebacks to stay alive in the tournament.
Palmer edged Upper Perkiomen’s Wolfgang McStravick 5-3 to give Delaware Valley its first win in the consolations.
Strenk defeated Manheim’s John Shorter 7-3 and Wagner won a 4-2 tiebreaker over Altoona’s Mante Barnes.
Pennsylvania state AAA championships
(at Giant Center, Hershey, Pa.)
Round of 16
132 pounds: Drew Walker (North Hills) d. Jalen Palmer (Delaware Valley) 4-1. 160: Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale) pin Lucas Markowitz (Delaware Valley) :42; 182: Brett Harner (Northampton) pin Martin Strenk (Delaware Valley) 1:51. 195: Jacob Hart (Hampton) pin Matt Wagner (Delaware Valley) 1:26
First-round consolations
132: Palmer (Delaware Valley) d. Wolfgang McStravick (Upper Perkiomen) 5-3; 160: Ehrin Lee (Titusville) d. Markowitz (Delaware Valley) 10-3; 182: Strenk (Delaware Valley) d. John Shorter (Manheim) 7-3; 195: Wagner (Delaware Valley) d. Mante Barnes (Altoona) 4-2, tiebreaker
